Montenegro

Tourism development and rescue in mountain areas of Montenegro - the safety challenge

Kolašin, 6 February 2010

Mountain Rescue Services are often forced to provide help under impossible conditions. At the exercise in the Mušovića River village near Kolašin the Mountain Rescue Service of Montenegro (GSS) demonstrated full preparedness to deal with the toughest challenges, and twenty of its members showed that on every meter of Montenegrin territory tourists and citizens can feel safe. The exercise session was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and UNDP Montenegro.

The Ministry of Tourism and UNDP jointly implement a two-year €120.000 worth program to build and strengthen the capacities of the GSS services, which became a member of the InternationalCommission For Alpine Rescue (IKAR) last year.

The project for strengthening the capacities of the Mountain Rescue Service of Montenegro also provides path signaling, construction of resting places and renovation of mountain homes. Representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and UNDP have positively evaluated the activities of the tourist valorisation of the mountain part of Montenegro, especially the marking of over 1.000 km of trails, passing of the law on mountain slopes, as well as defining of standards for the appearance of signaling in nature.

Minister of Tourism H. E. Mr. Predrag Nenezić expressed appreciation for the Mountain Rescue Service, which, he said, has been successfully implementing activities to rescue tourists and citizens of Montenegro for as much as four decades. He pointed out that in accordance with the strategy of tourism development by 2020 preconditions will be created for sustainable development and reassessment of tourism potential of the hinterland and mountain sections. “We have nearly come to an end of a two-year project for procurement of equipment, training of new staff as well for trying to define the final status of this service which must be determined as soon as possible. However, I think this is not enough, since we all need to further engage our resources and donor funds in offering full support that we and all other institutions and organizations in Montenegro, first and foremost our military, can provide for the Mountain Rescue Service. We are keeping in mind that, for example, Slovenia has 450 rescuers and we have only 21 fully trained with several instructors, a few newly trained people and 4 doctors. Therefore, this is still not enough and we must therefore do everything to make GSS financially sustainable,” Minister Nenezić concluded.

UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro Mr. Alexander Avanessov believes that all who are involved in many extreme sports, adventure tourists in particular, can feel safe. “Let me congratulate to the Ministry of Tourism, Montenegrin Mountain Rescue Service and my colleagues from the UNDP Economy and Environment Cluster for organizing this very impressive skill demonstration, but also for all the work previously done in this important domain. This gives us an opportunity to remind ourselves of the necessity to increase the measures for accident prevention as part of responsible development of mountain and ski areas, and the need to manage the aspects of safety, risk prevention, environmental education and land conservation on everyday basis in all such areas. I think that the existence of an efficient rescue service in the mountains is a prerequisite to have a real tourist destination kind that Montenegro deserves to be, primarily due to its natural beauty, and the tourism development in the countryside that could have significant positive effects on the economy in the mountain communities as well as in the whole of Montenegro,” he said. Mr. Avanessov also announced that the UNDP in the future will definitely continue the cooperation and, in accordance with available capacities and financial capability, help these brave people who are ready to confront even with seemingly hopeless situations.

Mr. Željko Loncović, GSS Instructor presented the history, team structure, training models, previous activities and future plans: “The role of the Mountain Rescue Service has diversified greatly over the past number of years and we are now called out to assist in a wide range of incidents and circumstances, and to reach injured people in canyons, caves or fissures and transport them up to the edge of the cliff where emergency medical teams take them over.”

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Taking into account the aspects of climate change and the sustainable use of natural system, the main goal of sustainable development of mountain communities, wherever possible, should be to promote and develop nature based tourism.

In terms of adequate contribution of tourism in mountain areas to economic growth, it should be kept in mind that mountain areas are a mix of different protection areas (from total protection to local sustainable activities), and a mix of traditional local activities and new development activities.

Nature based tourism in mountain areas assumes all kinds of outdoor activities all year round (climbing, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, kayaking or rafting, etc.).

Large parts of the tourist population all over the world have developed substantial interest in mountain areas. There are various types of tourists: those well prepared and trained in quest for wilderness and more or less “extreme” sports, but also those not so well prepared or trained, interested in discovering gentle wilderness, relaxed walks or good organic foods.

Mountain environment - and natural hazards (snow, cold, storms, landslides, etc.) - remains always the same, with or without the presence of tourists.

Ensuring maximum level of safety during all mentioned and other activities is the main prerequisite.

To achieve this the following is needed:

- trained professionals and volunteers,
- support at local and central levels (hospital, helicopter, ambulance, etc.),
- rescue kits and good logistic, and, most important of all
- local safety teams - well and continuously trained and retrained.

Under this framework, “GSS” - Montenegrin Mountain Rescue Service definitely plays essential role. This group of volunteers represent, as in many other countries, not only a traditional answer to the generic risks for alpinists but, looking forward to the development of tourism in mountain areas, a base to increase, at all levels, social interests on development of mountain communities.

Therefore, UNDP along with the Ministry of Tourism supported and is going to further support GSS in order to create:

- new development opportunities for tourism,
- more safety in mountain areas in general and, in detail, in ski areas.

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About the Project - click here...

UNDP CO Montenegro assisted the Ministry of Tourism in implementing a revised Tourism Master Plan 2007-2020. Specifically, UNDP focused on developing the Hiking/Biking Paradise concept in the North Western Montenegro. Montenegro has great natural resources for development of this type of nature based tourism and proper valorization of those resources can bring economic growth especially to the north of the country, as the most underdeveloped region, but to other regions as well. For proper development of this type of tourism there was a need to identify and further develop: needed infrastructure and institutions in charge of that infrastructure and further development of nature based tourism. Mountaineering and Biking Associations were recognized as one of the key actors in development of this type of tourism and as two associations that have most of relevant experience and biggest number of active members spread through clubs in all parts of the country. UNDP provided full support to the Ministry of tourism and involved associations in establishment of Mountaineering and Biking Associations as self-sufficient institutions in charge of maintenance of the national hiking and mountain biking trail infrastructure, implementation of new legislation on nature based tourism and further promotion and development of this type of tourism in accordance with best international standards. Also, Mountain Rescue Service was in a focus as one of the key players leading the tourism support services in Montenegro.

Project Goal:

Development of nature based tourism in Montenegro, with special focus on hiking and biking, and tourism safety through adoption of legislation framework and capacity building of institutions in charge of development of this type of tourism. Better promotion of tourism product and additional local community income generation and improvement of climate for doing business in local communities through targeting niche in hiking and biking market.

Project Components:

1. Creation of legislative framework for development of hiking and biking in Montenegro: drafting of the bylaws and internal acts for the Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) under the Mountaineering Association; Registry of trails; Conditions and ways of choosing the host of the trail; Standards for the trails

2. Capacity building: Establishment of a 2-year business plan for MRS; strategic development plan for the Rescue Service
a. Licensing for current and future rescuers
b. Renew the equipment for the GSS
c. Formalization of the International standards acceptance and membership in IKAR

3. Pilot trails to be equipped in accordance with the legislation
4. Support to Mountaineering and Biking Association for the acceptance of international standards as well as membership in respective bodies

5. Improved tourism products related to eco-tourism as well as coordination between stakeholders on local and governmental level thus creating better business climate and SME development opportunities

6. Placement of the web based platform on the PSCG and NTO websites – for the most updated info on the current status of the trails and most important services provided on the trails and in the cities

Partners in the Project: Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection, Mountaineering Association, Mountain Biking segment of the Cycling Association of Montenegro, National Tourism Organization, Montenegrin Rescue service